2/11/23

Among all of the titanic figures of World War II, there is none that looms larger than the figure of Winston Churchill. I suppose what strikes me most is, while certainly a colorful character, he is really quite a simple one. His courageous actions were driven, in reality, by a very few core principles and a generous serving of dogged determination. I suppose it could be said without exaggeration that Churchill is THE icon of 20th-century conservative politics.

There is, almost certainly, no greater authority on Churchill's life than Martin Gilbert, who was named Churchill's official biographer in 1968. Compared to his 8-volume official biography, the present book is something of an appendix, I suppose, but I found it charmingly written and very skillful in its argument that Churchill--because of his American roots, his grasp of the American psyche and political system, and mainly his stubborn optimism that the USA and Britain could and should be friends--is perhaps THE "Prime Mover" of US-GB relations from World War II up to present day.

I suppose, in some ways, the book could be said (not totally unexpectedly) to favor Churchill; when tensions are described, more often Roosevelt of Truman or Eisenhower are identified as the point of origin. By and large, though, the descriptions of those difficulties never struck me as completely unfair or irreparably biased. Gilbert does a great job of letting the reader see events through Churchill's eyes, wonderfully helped by the generous quotations from Churchill's telegrams, speeches, letters, and notes.

This the first book I've read focused on Winston Churchill and I suppose the best compliment I can give it is that it has left me wanting to read more about this remarkable British prime minister, whose decisive leadership shaped world history in ways that we have probably not yet fully fathomed. ( )

This book explores Churchill's relationship with America. Both his biological, financial, and political. It's not a full spectrum biography and really sticks to it's narrow scope. A bit dry but struck me as well written and researched. Not a bad read but for the general reader who simply wants to know more about Churchill this one may be to narrowly focused. Cheers. ( )

Churchill and America is a book that had been on my reading stack for quite some time. Truth is, I had been putting it off, thinking that I just didn't have the focus to really concentrate on it. I have read part o Gilbert's biography of Churchill, which is excellent, but Gilbert can be a bit dogged and I wasn't sure I was really up to it, much as I admire Churchill. Well, I was mistaken. The book is fantastically interesting, and it is not at all a classic biography, as it is for the most part fairly one-sided. You get Churchill in Churchill's words, and in the words and communications of people who knew him and dealt with him at the time, but mostly this is a view of Churchill himself through his own words. The book is filled with many letters, telegrams, speaches, and other notes and bits. At many times I was moved to tears and had to stop reading. Martin Gilbert managed to compile the material and write the book in a way that emphasized the human, as opposed to the bigger picture, although Churchill seemed to have a very good instinct for the bigger picture, more so than many other people. Over half the book concerns WWII and it was one of the most moving approaches to that war I have read. ( )

Outstanding! Churchill was an absolutely amazing individual. One can only wonder where we all would be without a leader of the free world like him, during the unstable period of the 30's & 40's. Great book, shows his brillance, foresight, incredible diplomatic skills, and at times his biting and humoreous wit. ( )